Mirror Interaction

It’s been a while since I did a Baby Bees post, and part of that has been because our Baby Bee is just flying all OVER the place right now and I just can’t keep up!  Crawling, pulling up to his knees, trying to eat everything (he’s teething – aren’t they always teething?), and of course wanting lots and lots of snuggles.

Today’s idea is one that might seem like a “no-brainer,” but it’s easy to forget to carve out time in the DAILY schedule for it.  Even if you just take a couple minutes, make time to put your Baby Bee in front of the mirror DAILY.  You can begin holding Baby Bee up to the mirror once you see that Baby Bee can focus on you and your face, and recognize you from across the room.  At first, Baby Bee won’t recognize him/herself, or you.  But eventually, they will begin to focus on your face in the mirror as you hold them close.  I love love love sharing smiles through the mirror with my Baby Bee (and my Big Butterfly, too!).  Once Baby Bee is secure sitting up alone (with you right behind), a great idea is to use your bathroom vanity for mirror time!  As Baby Bee gets more secure in sitting up, you can step to the side, and let Baby Bee fully interact only with his/her reflection.  It’s an amazing thing to watch.

Watching themselves in the mirror helps Baby Bees gain confidence in their movements, as they watch the other Baby Bee in the mirror do what they do.  I read this really amazing article from Nat Geo about what animals (specifically dogs, dolphins, elephants, magpies, some great apes, flamingoes, and horses) see in the mirror, and it says it takes human babies 18-24 months to truly “catch on” and realize they are looking at themselves.  It’s so so important to have this mirror interaction time for them to play, experiment, and learn from the Baby Bee that’s staring back at them.

As in my photos, once your Baby Bee is confident sitting up in front of the mirror, and is used to interacting with that other Baby Bee that they see, try adding an object for play.  Grayson played with his hat for several long minutes, and finally began moving his hat to see if the Baby Bee in the mirror would move HIS hat, too!  It was so cute – specifically in the bottom left photo, he picked up his hat, and shook it, then shook it again, intently watching the other Baby Bee in the mirror.  I knew he was done interacting when he looked up at my reflection, held my eyes, and smiled.  (Bottom right.)  We smiled at each other for a minute, but once he found my face, he was done looking at the other Baby Bee in the mirror.

Do you try mirror interaction with your Baby Bee?  Share what activities you have done in front of the mirror!  I’d love to get your feedback!

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